The Filing Cabinet is a place where different student essays get uploaded and given for public consumption.  It’s quite brilliant – Jas has organised the essays into: Doctrine, History, New Testament and Old Testament.  They cover topics from the English reformation, to Middle Knowledge, to Psalms and Sovereignty, to Apocalypticism and History.

Check it out: http://www.earngey.info/collegeblog/

I’ve got three essays up there:

Risk, Middle Knowledge and Providence.
How did official religious policy change with the Glorious Revolution of 1688?
Calvin’s Ecclesiology: Word and Sacrament

Enjoy!

Steve and I head up to the Moore College Podcast room and chew the fat with none other than the brilliant jazz saxophonist, Richard MaeGraith!

Richard’s a great guy, and a fella who Steve and I had the privilege of studying with at Moore College.  Now he’s headed over to SMBC to correct all the mistakes he learnt with us

In this interview, Steve and I hear all about Richard’s background: how he grew in love for Jesus, how he navigated between a professional career with jazz music and his love for Christian ministry, and how he’s now kicking off a church plant for muso’s in Marrickville! His website is over here if you’re keen to check it out: http://www.richardmaegraith.com/

Plenty of gold here – especially hearing how a love for music has transpired into service for God with music.  And of course, plenty (and I mean plenty) of rambling banter from your favourite larrikins, us.

Get it into you:

Mark Thompson has written an excellent and short statement which calls for her invitation to preach to be recalled.  Here’s a snippet:

“We note with profound sadness that the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, has been invited to preach in a Brisbane church in early July. This invitation shows an appalling lack of judgment and contempt for those who have suffered at the hands of the revisionists in The Episcopal Church.”

and

“Katherine Jefferts Schori bears a great deal of responsibility for the current turmoil, division and anguish in the Anglican Communion. It is entirely inappropriate that she should be welcomed into any diocese in the Anglican Church of Australia.”

Read the whole statement here at the ACL website.

In Henri Blocher’s Evil and the Cross (p99, 1994), a paragraph is given to the topic of the decretive and preceptive will of God (which I’ve blogged about before).  It’s worth quoting in full, especially if you’re sitting the exam and want the context of the quote for our question!

“Theologians distinguish between the decretive and preceptive will of God, or the will of eurestia (ie. what God is pleased to have his creatures do).  When we read ‘God wills’ or ‘God wishes’, it is not always with the same meaning.  The wicked sons of Eli did not repent ‘for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death’ (1 Sa. 2.25), and yet we read that God takes ‘no pleasure in the death of the wicked’ (Ezk. 33:11).  In the first case, God willed in the sense that he has written the deed in his book (Ps. 139.16), that he has included it in the programme of everything that happens, in his universal plan or decree.  In the second case, we are dealing with his desire that all should be saved, and it also involves his call, commandment or precept that they should turn and be converted.  We should note carefully that, even at the heart of the decree, if evil is willed in a certain manner, it is not willed as something good.  God wills what is good directly, simply, for himself; he wills evil only in a different manner, while hating it at the same time. It is, to be sure, sovereign, but it is also a permissive will that is being referred to.  Divine causality with respect to good is efficient (i.e. God acts efficaciously, every grace and good gift comes down from the Father of lights, Jas. 1:17).  With respect to evil, it is deficient (i.e. God is content not to act, as if he failed to assist; he did not bring forth the will to do good, nor the deed).  Whereas God himself works good by making it work, evil is always the deed of one or of several created beings, exclusively.“

I might add, that I do very much appreciate D.B. Hart’s theology – especially since he’s a theologian of the classical variety.  But I did find his ridiculous misrepresentation of the Reformed tradition quite frustrating!  Blocher sets out the key nuance very well. If Hart had recognised this, I’m sure his Doors of the Sea would have been much more convincing!  After all, what he’s proposing in primary and secondary levels of causality (p83ff) already exists within the Reformed tradition.

Coming down to Melbourne for this conference caused a small level of anxiety before I left Sydney. Coming from Moore Theological College, and as a Sydney Anglican candidate, I was aware that it was likely for me to be in the minority. Moreover, I was nervous about the polemical nature of this issue, and the fact that I could be found guilty by association! What I found was that the more thoughtful speakers and guests of the conference withheld the polemic and vitriol, and extended a Christian grace for those who differed in opinion. Yet, it was true that Moore college, the Sydney diocese, and complementarians copped a lot from some who couldn’t resist the temptation – this was a little unfortunate in my opinion. Whilst there was nothing to excuse the rhetoric, there was often good reason to explain it. What I mean, is that I heard many, many stories of those who had been rudely offended, belittled, ridiculed and in some cases, sinned against due to their opinion on this very issue of gender in church. So, I was aware of the polemic and vitriol which can extend to both sides of this debate. What I’ve learnt is that it is important to extend grace to those who differ in opinion. It’s of the utmost importance to cling to the truth, yet it is also of the utmost importance to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Listening to the audience was an interesting thing also. There were many people from various denominational backgrounds: Anglican, Uniting, Pentecostal, Presbyterian. A few things repeated really took my interest: There seemed to be a slight disparity between the topics of the speakers, and the questions from the audience – often the topics were heavy theologically, but the questions were quite light on. Complementarians were often lumped together into one single monolithic position (even though some of the speakers correctly noted that there was a range of views within the complementarian camp). The Spirit-empowered giftedness of believers was often considered the supreme guide when deciding on how to regulate church order – Scripture was not often noted as the norm which norms other norms. This is the sort of thing I heard during a panel discussion:

Person A: If we prevent the power that God has given us, then that is disobedience.  when we see people’s ability to minister restricted by the church, then that’s a travesty.  One level of restriction: explicit and implicit.  The question is whether it’s innate in us, or whether someone tells us.

Person B: We cannot know whether a call of a person is valid or invalid. We should never prevent someone’s perceived calling.

Person C: You need to explain why women were so effective on the mission field. How can you disobey God and be so successful?

Here are some short reflections on each of the major sessions I attended:

• Graham Cole #1: Graham really showed a deep Bible knowledge and love, and gave brilliantly succinct and on-topic answers to some tricky questions. Also, I thought it excellent that no caricatures were made of any ‘Sydney’ or ‘Complementarian’ groups. There was a real Christian theological integrity shown. My only question was as to whether it seemed to frame the debate in potentially unhelpful ways: ie., when restricted and unrestricted women’s ministry is linked to broken world and new creation, respectively – are we not unhelpfully polarising the debate? Even if (and Graham Cole did not) we don’t point to finger to who this might be, doesn’t it implicitly as the keynote address of the CBE conference, mean that the CBE people are the new creation people, and non-CBE people are broken-worlders? The aforementioned false dichotomy is simple, but possibly unhelpful…
• Graham Cole #2: This was the paper which I found most interesting during the whole conference. Positively, Graham very carefully highlighted some of the dangers in using the Trinity as a model for human relationships. Where it got very interesting was his engagement with Karl Rahner. Karl Barth got a mention, but not much engagement. For my money, I think that he ought to have engaged with Barth’s ‘Way of the Son into the Far Country’ for the completeness of his paper. Because I’m not so sure that Cole’s paper adequately dealt with how Robert Doyle (Moore) would put forward the issue (God is as he is toward us etc.). In other words, real engagement between Cole’s theology and Robert Doyle’s theology might have produced some fascinating discussion!
• Kevin Giles #1. Kevin Giles is a brilliant scholar – in fact, he was the senior student at Moore college many moons ago. But what I felt let this session down was the amount of heated polemic which seemed to carry the argument. Whilst Kevin was making some genuinely fair points (and some quite profound ones I might add), the rhetoric really made it less convincing. Whilst some people might very well make far too much of 1 Timothy 2, I simply don’t think that complementarians read the whole Bible through the lens of 1 Timothy 2. We must say something about what 1 Timothy 2 teaches us about Genesis 1-2, but by doing that we aren’t necessarily making 1 Timothy 2 the hermeneutic key for reading all of Scripture. Thus, I think that Kevin made a lot of excellent points (particularly on the exegesis of Gen. 1-2 themselves), but in my opinion, the overall framework of the argument was flawed.
• Tim Foster #1: This deserves a better summary. It is quite a solid paper, albeit with quite a few spelling and grammatical errors. But it engages with current scholarship and proposes a new way of reading 1 Timothy 2:8-15. A lot of Tim’s argument seems to rest on the cultural context of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Priscilla and Aquilla. He makes the claim that ‘all’ of the women at Ephesus were led astray by the ascetic teaching, and that is what the 1 Tim 2 prohibition is on about. I’m certainly no expert here, and would need to spend some more time on the historical and cultural context in order to evaluate it properly. But, my general query is about how much of Tim’s argument rests on this cultural reconstruction – Tim’s reading makes it seem so simple. It could be quite profound, but on the other hand, simplicity raises some warning flags for me too. Anyway, the jury’s out – I’ll let the exegetes fight that one out!
• Cheryl Catford #1: Probably the most unconvincing of the sessions I attended. It felt like she was trying to bite off more than she could chew in the allotted time. What I felt was the biggest problem for Cheryl’s argument was that she pitted offices against Giftedness, and the organic against the institutional. I suppose this strategy would have been OK, except that her work on disproving offices was a bit light on. Eg., I found it simply astonishing that 1 Timothy 3 got such a small look-in – perhaps no wonder, since gender is explicitly linked to office there! So, after office was dismissed, Gal. 3:28 (and other texts) were produced to promote Giftedness, and the case is closed. Q.E.D? Not in my opinion. I think that there is much more Biblical evidence for office than Catford would like to admit. And office is linked to gender. Godliness and Giftedness but not Gender is incorrect. In my opinion, the criteria are Godliness and Giftedness and Gender.

Update: Tanya reminded me over lunch today about how we learnt about what our ‘weak-spots’ are.  I thought that I would add to this summary, that one of the great things from attending a conference like this, was that my presuppositions and assumed knowledge comes under scrutiny.  I think I’ve greatly benefited from realising the nuances and important little distinctions assumed in my position, which need to be fleshed out and explained.  Without them, some of the complementarian arguments can be misunderstood (ie., the discussion pertaining to Eternal Relationship Subordination and taxis).

Let me close with a few warm remarks. Chris and Di Appleby (of St. Thomas’, Burwood) were very kind and warm hosts during my time in Melbourne. Chris runs a great and keen evangelical church in Burwood, that I’d heartily recommend visiting! Kevin and Lynley Giles were very warm in fellowship during our time down there, and I was made to feel like a brother in our conversations. Bob and Shirley Andrews, who kindly encouraged me to attend the conference, were both great encouragements during my time there. I was reminded of the great wisdom which can be learnt from those older brothers and sisters in the Lord. All in all, it was an excellent conference. Well run and well attended. I’m thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to learn and be sharpened. Whilst I’m still a Complementarian, I’ve got a whole lot of time for my Egalitarian brothers and sisters in Christ.

It should be noted that these are my notes of the discussion, and are not quoted verbatim. Please don’t quote the following text as such.

A quote is read: “Paul is simply stating that when it comes to women leading the church it is because they are more gullible…” (ME: the quote was much longer, I could only record this much)
Question: How do Jesus and Paul speak to the historical interpretation of gullibility of women?
Answer: (GC) Perhaps the quote would lend itself to the opposite conclusion – men shouldn’t lead churches because they cause the porn problems etc, and then shift the responsibility to Eve! (CC) Men are struggling with identity as much as women. The Eve deception idea comes out of a Patriarchal ideal. (KG) I think the quote is Mark Driscoll. It’s really wonderful that he says it so direct and straightforward – because I argue with people who disguise it under the terms of ‘different roles’. ‘Complementarians’ obfuscate the issues with terms like ‘function’ and ‘role’. 1 Tim 2 is contextual, to take it otherwise leads to the deception of Eve theory. (Funmi) That’s what I experience everyday in Nigeria.

Question: How do you believe the early church set itself apart from the cultural evaluation of women?
Answer: (GC) Ie., Luke 24 – the good news of the resurrection entrusted to women! (Funmi) Example of Mary at the feet of Jesus – that she sat there. Women were in the kitchen, and the males stayed with the guest. Jesus affirmed her. (KG) Paul’s practise demonstrates it – he was in a very patriarchal society. Jesus stated the ideals and Paul dealt with the concrete realities. Paul says that the Spirit is a non-discriminatory employer. There were women apostles. Women prophesied. Prophecy is speaking in the power of the Spirit. Women are deacons (includes meaning of ‘servants of the word’). Paul has male and female co-workers. All early churches were house churches where women taught. In that cultural world, it’s amazing that there are only 3 Pauline excluding statements.

Question: We often view women’s spiritual status through Eve’s failure, but men’s through Christ’s redemption on the cross. What do you see happening in those first chapters of Genesis?
Answer: (CC) Man and woman are standing there when the temptation came. Gen. 1-3 is about the rupture of the relationships. The metanarrative is all about relationship (with God and with all humanity). The hallmark of sin is the pitting of one against the other. Fault-finding. Women do this to men, and vice-versa. But Christ came to repair humanity. The “women’s deception” view is an abuse of power. (GC) I might have a slightly different take on this to some. When I consider the biblical narrative – Paul sees an analogy with what happened in Ephesus and what happened in the garden. When you read Gen. 2 words spoken to the man, they are different to what Eve knew of. Obviously Eve wasn’t the primary recipient of the command. Adam is there but silent (his failure in responsibility – because the Word of revelation came to him). It’s a difference in knowledge in Gen 2. Eve was deceivable but it’s an epistemological problem (range of knowledge available to her).

Question: We often hear Christians complain about the feminisation of the church; that when Jesus is portrayed with feminine qualities, this drives men away. Discuss.
Answer: (KG) There is a 60/40 split of women/men in congregations. A couple of years ago, Southern Cross wondered why Sydney had the same split when it has the male complementarian position. Answer in Southern Cross – we need more manly men! One answer is we need more good looking men (joke!). Another answer is that the best parishes are when there’s a healthy male/female proportion of leadership. We should be aiming for healthy churches with good representation in leadership. BUT, I have serious reservations about the female ordination issue. We swapped problems and put women on their own, and wonder why women aren’t coping very well. Solution needs both – healthy male and female leadership. (GC) It is ironic that male Christian leaders don’t realise they are the bride of Christ! (Mimi) A Church History argument counters this – Amy Macpherson (ME: sp?) drew auditoriums full of men. History disproves this kind of statement.

Question: When a church is looking for leaders, would you say that gender is one of the first questions that is asked? The last thing from my experience is a consideration of Godliness.
Answer: (CC) I think that gender is not often even broached. Large churches don’t even think of approaching women. Women are more likely to get part-time jobs in rural positions. From a board perspective, we always understood that we didn’t have enough women who were qualified. 20 years down the track there is an organisation called ‘Women for boards’ – they have 8000 names on the list, and rarely do they get asked for names. (Funmi) Same problem in Nigeria. Except Pentecostal churches – women are even bishops. They find that the men are very easy to get along with.

Question: Egalitarians seems to presume that any difference in function must be inequality. Comment?
Answer: (Funmi) It’s like saying different and deficient. When you say that equality is not the same thing as function, then you rob equality of it’s very essence. It eviscerates the word of equality, which is actually access and outcomes. That’s what we are always told in Nigeria. (KG) The great problem is that our friends have a new language. Differing roles is normal (eg., mowing the lawns). It’s normal we’re told. Then you unpack it. Check a dictionary. Roles can change. Using this word which obfuscates things, roles are allocated by chromosomes and birth. But really, there’s only one issue – who rules and who obeys. Women by birth are given the role of being subservient. Men are given the role of headship. Women can never assume the role of headship. In a dictionary, roles can change. In this other use, roles can never change. It’s not a role, it’s a relationship in this definition. No answer is every given (by complementarians) when pushed. When you say that roles can never change, then you make it binding. (CC) Clearly when you get out of the western context we see difference in function clearly. I saw on TV a shot in Afghanistan where there was a scene of men whipping a women for refusing to marry. When you talk about obeying and submitting, that’s the rub. (KG) Egalitarians are accused of using third world examples to muddy the issue. But, subordination has massive consequences at home, workplaces etc – not to mention the third world. Is it really enriching people’s lives? Having function becoming inherent in women has a consequence of inferiority. (Funmi) Same in Nigeria. What about when men want to choose a woman’s role?

Question: Most complementarians have a consistent theology, based around gender roles in the garden.  Discuss.
Answer: (GC) Complementarians are more variegated than the question may suggest. Is Gen. 1-3 talking about relatedness, or order, or being? Complementarians aren’t all on the same page with the given question. Hence the debate about Sarah Palin – would it be appropriate for a Christian to vote for her? (KG) Yes (in agreement with GC), there are huge diversities. The back of Grudem’s book shows this. The other thing is that there has just been so much 3^rd rate quality material written about it. At a scholarly level, the complementarians have a consistent case – creation ideal carefully enunciated. Egalitarians have been slower off the mark. CBE enunciates a position which is getting even more refined (Fee, Giles, Payne). It’s an irrefutable theological position. It’s a way of reading the bible from beginning to end. Not just reading one verse over the whole position. (Funmi) In Africa, we tend not to get bogged down in the text. The verse “the letter killeth, but the Spirit gives live” helped me. I heard the Lord tell me to come away from the pulpit and consider the issue. I prayed and asked the Lord to tell me and show me. And he showed me the Egalitarian position. I don’t think it’s so much as to whether we can arrive at a strong position, but just ask the Lord to show me.

Question: In engaging in debate with Complementarians – is it best to pursue Jesus, or Paul, or the Trinity?
Answer: (CC) You need to recognise that at Pentecost the church is formed. Thus, all of the above. There’s been a strong emphasis on Paul, but we’ve lost touch with Jesus’ response to women. WWJD. (GC) I think it depends on the person I’m speaking to, as to where I start. Ultimately, it’s a question of theological exegesis. That would take some time to do. There are rival narratives at this point. I don’t deal with abstractions such as complementarian/egalitarian “lines” but deal with theology and exegesis. (Funmi) I think everything hinges on Jesus. He’s the one who made creation and holds creation. Any interpretation which differs from Jesus is wrong.

Question: Why are there so many complementarian women?
Answer: (KG) One of the absolute fundamentals of human existence is that the ruling class can get the dis-empowered to imbibe their ideology. Aristocracy: England, apartheid, the caste system. It’s taught like this: “In the sermon this morning, as we do once a month, we look at 1 Tim. 2. Now I want you to go home and look closely at this text, then I want to you listen to God. Now, it’s not my interpretation, but God’s the authority.” It’s internalised. How can you get people to break out and think for themselves. How can you get women to stand up? My evangelical friends won’t speak to me – they’ll think I’m trying to overthrow God’s order. You have to learn and stand up for yourselves. We overthrew apartheid, we need to overthrow this. I think that’s the answer. (GC) Hmmm, that may be part of the answer. I speak to women who don’t know Greek and Hebrew, and can’t engage. I’ve been at dinner parties when one group is dealing with texts, the other group is dealing sociologically. That will cut not ice when it comes to the way forward. What I think is really important to realise, is that we often replace the Pope with the great Bible teachers. Stott, Piper, Carson, Driscoll can be like this. Having said that though, there are other texts in Scripture, which are quite troubling for the evangelical: 1 Peter 3 tells me that Baptism saves me. James 2 tells me that we’re not justified by faith alone. 1 Tim. 2 tells me that women cannot teach. They constitute the same methodological challenge. (KG) Graham, we don’t disagree at all on this issue. Everyone’s genuine. People come to believe these things. The question was ‘how was it internalised’ so I was explaining the sociological issues.

Question: Graham, regarding first order and second order issues. How do we engage with this?
Answer: (GC) We are big on making statements. Jesus was big on asking questions. Paul asks questions. Like, how important is this to you, as a Christian? Is it a Gospel matter? Ie., is the Gospel “Jesus died for my sins, and made women equal in this particular way”. Isn’t that what the Galatians were doing? Adding to the Gospel? Let’s see if we can have the right hand of fellowship with respect to this issue. In saying that however, second order doesn’t mean insignificant. Some second order issues have first order implications. It might underline or undermine the Gospel.

Introduction

1^st wave feminists in Oz wanted a voice in society. Emphasis on the differences between men and women and the positive contribution that women could bring (eg., alcohol etc). Theologically, the first wave was concerned to bring access to women in public ministry.

2^nd wave in the 60′s was a more academic movement – women to gain access to all areas on public function (eg., the pill, equal pay, equal work, positions of power in politics etc). Emphasis on similarities between men and women (boys got dolls, and girls got trucks!). Within the church, the ordination of women came to the fore. Theological arguments ranged from feminist theology (hermeneutic of suspicion) to biblical basis such as CBE.

3^rd wave today. This is characterised by change at a dizzying rate. Primarily in Gen X and Gen Y. Deconstruction and postmodernity. Women enjoying the changes of 2^nd wave feminism. Ideals of feminism are now non-political. Interested in personal empowerment. Women from ‘Sex and the city’ are 3^rd wave icons. They like Paris Hilton and watch ‘America’s top model’.

Some quick characteristics (ME: there were ten, but I seem to have merged a couple together somewhere):

1. Individualism reigns. No defined path or role. Each woman is to determine her own path, resisting value judgments. Eg., women who left their job to come home and be a mother. Don’t like to be labelled a feminist.
2. Believe you can’t have it all – at once. But you get to choose what you want at any given time. Marie Claire did a survey of 5000 women – 64% of women said they want it all in life, but believe they can’t have it all at once. This group reverted to what they called ‘conversative values’ Even Julia Gillard herself questioned whether a mother could be Prime Minister.
3. Relationships are important. Not only focused on career. Men are not the enemy. Don’t feel like they have to rebel and choose homosexuality, but freedom to choose sexual preferences. 75% of women believed that having a happy family and relationship determined happiness in life (Marie Claire). 82% of women would opt for love over a career (Marie Claire).
4. 3^rd wavers hold themselves to very high standards. Major stresses: am I making the right choice?, role models are too perfect (Kate Blanchet was the most popular role model in Marie Claire survey), raising children, unrealistic expectations of marriage.
5. Women seek to be free in the workplace. Not prepared to be ‘male’ at work. They are allowed to express themselves in this. But the ideal and the actual don’t always match. But scared of being perceived as a feminist. She wants to ‘play the game’ even though it sounds like a complete sell-out
6. Believe that they can be the top of the field – if they choose to be. But, in reality women don’t hold the top jobs in Oz. (4 in the top 100 of ASX companies – CEO’s and CFO’s). (CC finds it wrong that women don’t fill those places)
7. You can express your sexuality anyway you choose. Whereas women used to burn their bras, now young girls are dressing like playboy bunnies. Sex and the city are their icons. Also, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus.
8. The world is their area – global village. Condemn the 2^nd wave of feminism of not being interested in non-white, non-western women around the world.
9. Consumerism and pop-culture as the source of identity. Increasingly through online social networks. ‘Finding youself’ is the catch-cry – eg., overseas travel, collective experience, music, role models. 3^rd wave luxury afforded by the wealthy, not non-western world.

What sort of things to be aware of when working with young Christian women:

1. Intense individualisation – call they need to heed. Expect to fulfil this/help them achieve it.
2. Many Christian women are seeking the same as their secular sisters – marriage. Unreal expectations; can lead to a compromise on their Christian standards. (Love above all else)
3. Acknowledge and embrace differences between men and women.
4. Strong cognitive dissonance on homosexuality – find it hard to accept that it isn’t part of God’s plan, or approved of by God.
5. Simpler lifestyle – community and respect for the environment. But also consumeristic and materialistic.
6. Concern for social justice.
7. Sexualisation of women. Modesty on dressing. (difficult to challenge about dress standards)

How should we respond?

• The church has responded in two ways (Pentecostals & Mark Driscoll). Pentes say: find you own individual calling and seek to fulfil your destiny. Identity linked to cultural norms of beauty, princesses or God-chicks. Mark Driscoll’s theology taps into gender differences – the desire for a simple life in family and relationships., taps into disquiet that men feel off the back of the 2^nd wave of feminism.
• Leadership within the church still belongs to those who belong to the generation during the 2^nd wave of feminism. Yet, Christianity is rapidly declining in Australia and the under-30′s hardly darken the doors of church. Need to engage seriously with this generation.
• Need to engage with the serious issue of Biblical illiteracy. Astonishing rates of biblical illiteracy are stifling progress.
• Women must find their own identity in Jesus Christ, not pop culture.
• Empowerment is necessary, but comes from the Holy Spirit.
• Teamwork is on the basis of mutual submission and sober judgment of ourselves.

Abstract

Evidence within the Pastoral Epistles suggests that the heresy afflicting the Ephesian church was embraced exclusively by women, and by all the women at Ephesus. This makes sense of several aspects of 1 Timothy 2:8-15, such as the relationship of verse 8 to the restof the passage, and why men and women are addressed separately in this section. When verses 13 and 14 are taken as a single point, namely that deception arises from a failure to listen to God’s word, they function to support Paul’s demand in verse 12 rather than support an [sic] general principle about the nature of women. The submission demanded in verse 11 is to the teaching of the church, while the authority on view in verse 12 carries the nuance of assertiveness or domination and is not concerned with gender-based hierarchy. Thus, the text does not provide a general injunction against women teaching or having authority, but addresses a particular situation whereby the Ephesian women embraced the heresy causing gender-based division. Paul’s solution is that the men stop quarrelling with the women, while the women are to be silent, stop asserting themselves and listen to the teaching of the church.

Conclusion

Despite the apparent simplicity of the command that a woman is not to teach, its meaning and force can only be understood within the entire passage, and the following two verses in particular. Any interpretation requires a certain amount of reconstruction and inference, and our interpretation is no exception. While it cannot be certain that the heresy has taken root along gender lines, we have provided a reconstruction that draws its inferences from within the text, and which takes account of the details of the passage.

The argument of the passage is that the problem of false teaching will not be resolved by a slanging match across the congregation. Rather, if the men stop quarrelling with the women, and the women lose their arrogant demeanour, are silent and submit to the authority of the authorised teacher(s), they will learn and be corrected. Just as the men are to desist from quarrelling with the women, a woman is not to teach or usurp authority in the congregational gatherings. Eve is a salutory lesson since she, having been created after Adam, did not hear God’s command, and so was deceived and sinned. However, they will be saved from the consequences of their sinfulness by appropriate behaviour and humility.

There is nothing in these verses to suggest a transoccasional application of the command to women not to teach or to be silent. Nor is there any requirement that the women at Ephesus or anywhere else submit to men, rather they must submit to the teaching of the church. The universal principle is that failure to listen to the word of God renders a person more open to the deceits perpetuated by false teachers. All of us must always submit to the word of God, or else we are susceptible to false teachers and are in danger of falling away.

Introduction

1. Jesus and Paul complement each other – no conflict
2. Jesus was a man of his age. He was not a contemporary feminist
3. Some Jewish men had negative views on women, some did not.
4. Jesus subtly subverted the Jewish norms of his day rather than attacking them.
5. Jesus said not one specific word on how the church was to be organised.

Jesus as an agent for change

• Jesus subverted hierarchy among his disciples
• Jesus subverted family prioritisation
• Jesus subverted the Jewish purity laws
• Jesus subverted the Jewish androcentric understanding of marriage
• Jesus subverted prevailing social norms on male-female social interaction.
• Jesus subverted circumcision
• Jesus subverted the idea that women could not be factual witnesses.

Twelve male apostles. Do they imply male ‘headship’?

The evangelists

Matthew
Mark
Luke
John

Conclusion